In Blackest Night
"In Blackest Night" is the 4th and 5th episodes of . Plot Part I On the planet Ajuris Four, a tribunal of alien judges orders the robotic Manhunters to apprehend John Stewart. On Earth, John is walking down the street in his old neighborhood. He runs into one of his old high school teachers, but seems moody and withdrawn. In the Watchtower, Flash, Hawkgirl, and J'onn J'onzz detect the incoming Manhunters and fly to intercept them. Superman joins them later after finishing dealing with an earthquake. ("It was just a 4.0.") The Manhunters and the League clash, but John steps forward and surrenders himself. The others are baffled as he allows himself to be handcuffed and transported away. They follow him to Ajuris 4, where a crowd of aliens vilifies and throws garbage at him. John is put on trial for genocide. The prosecution's first witness, space pirate Kanjar Ro, testifies that he was delivering a shipment of smuggled weapons to the neighboring planet, Ajuris Five, when John pursued him. A stray blast from his ring accidentally hit a vulnerable part of the planet's crust, and the entire planet exploded, taking three billion lives with it. During a recess, the League confronts John, demanding to know why he hasn't spoken up in his own defense. John says there's nothing to defend: he's guilty. Part II Despite John's confession, Superman says he's not convinced. He and J'onn take off to investigate the ruins of Ajuris Five. Flash is ordered to stall the trial, and steps forward as John's lawyer. Hawkgirl confronts John's comrades from the Green Lantern Corps, shaming them into standing by his side. Flash is hopelessly out of his depth, even with glowing character testimony from Kilowog and others. As the proceedings become more serious, the Guardians of the Universe, watching from Oa, decide it is time to intervene themselves, traveling to Ajuris Four. Superman and J'onn travel to Ajuris Five's moon, and immediately see something wrong: the moon should have lost its orbit after the planet was destroyed, but it's still there. Investigating a cave, they find an enormous hologram generator. They are then attacked by Ro, who has followed them, but he is brought down by Hawkgirl, who has followed him. John is pronounced guilty and sentenced to execution. Flash, as his attorney, is also sentenced to death. ("That's how we solved our lawyer problem," one judge explains.) Superman and J'onn arrive back just before the execution is carried out. On his signal, Hawkgirl destroys the generator, and the intact planet re-appears. It was all a frame-up. Ro confesses that the Manhunters paid him to carry out the charade – intended to draw the Guardians away from Oa. The Guardians admit that they built the Manhunters several thousand years ago, before the formation of the Corps, but decommissioned them, as the robots were unable to see the “gray area” between right and wrong. They reprogrammed the robots for more mundane tasks, but now realize that the Manhunters have been scheming to retake their old power. The League returns to Oa to find it under attack by the Manhunters, who have taken control of the outer defense systems. They batter their way through the defenses, but are too late to prevent the lead Manhunter from entering the Central Battery, absorbing its power into himself. However, John absorbs the battery's power into his ring, reciting the Corp's incantation: somehow, this has the effect of cleansing the power of the Manhunter's influence, and returning it to the Battery. The Manhunters are repelled. Restored to honor in the Corps, John leaves Oa with his teammates. Background Information Trivia *As Flash, J'onn, and Hawkgirl prepare to leave the Watchtower, J'onn says that Wonder Woman is on another assignment, and Batman "would only say that he's busy." This sets up the fact that in nearly all subsequent episodes, one or more of the seven members of the League do not appear. Cast Category:JL episodes